26 Nov 2017 07:18:52
Ed01 curious your take - is it coincidence we seem to be struggling to control midfield with Coutinho in there or is that harsh on him? It does seem our best performances to date continue to be with a front 3 of Mané, Salah and Firmino, with Firmino acting as the creative engine, then a midfield 3 that is just efficient at getting it forward to them as efficiently, plus willing to put in a shift defensively.

At the moment it seems Coutinho's skill on the ball isn't quite enough to justify sacrificing the midfield control we seem to have with a setup of Hendo, Gini and Lallana/ Can.

{Ed001's Note - I don't think it is a coincidence, he is going missing for long periods of the game and not doing enough off the ball to help out defensively. The question is whether his flashes of brilliance make up for that or not.}


1.) 26 Nov 2017
26 Nov 2017 09:04:33
Although I see your point, I don’t think our other Centre mids control the game anyway.


2.) 26 Nov 2017
26 Nov 2017 09:15:17
to be fair taking him out for a player that will put a shift in defensively, may help control a game smplfc.


3.) 26 Nov 2017
26 Nov 2017 10:29:55
Was saying this before the season started, and people laughed at my comments and questioned whether I watched the game. Coutinho is a fine player with key skills to pick a pass that people will feel are suited in midfield. Maybe if we still played a diamond or if our midfield 3 had coutinho at the point of it, but we dont. We typically have hendo anchoring with two runners. And coutinho doesn't have the engine or physqiue to stamp his authority as one of those runners. MK did a big breakdown of midfield but I think it missed that the way our midfield set-up isn't exactly ideal to coutinho's strengths. Yes he can track back and press, but we've that most effective when he starts from the left wing or when he was at the head of our diamond under BR. But as a central-mid? No, he has a lot more developing to do to really be impactful imo. Am sure he'll get there, just not right now.


4.) 26 Nov 2017
26 Nov 2017 15:23:42
Spot on, OP and Ed01. Cou is not offering much defensively and his brillia nce is not consistent enough for now, to offset that. In the last two games, he has been too absent defensively and not consistent enough offensively hence and we wonder why Hendo is all over the pitch trying to put out fires in CM and covering for Moreno, Wij and Milner and breaking up play, all at the same time.